Two connected failures lay behind the torpedo policy. French leaders wanted a weapon that would solve the naval problem cheaply, so they resisted the continuing research required to stay ahead of rapid-firing guns. At the same time, the state repeatedly changed or blurred the purpose of its navy. Procurement depended on unanswered strategic questions: win what contest, against which enemy, in what place, and by what method?
Notable Point · 22:39-23:38
A cheap weapon still demands research and purpose
France wanted the torpedo to remain a low-cost answer without funding successor technology or defining precisely what its navy had to accomplish.